Professor Franks
Final Examination, Fall 1996
1. Carefully analyze the facts and grasp the issues in each question before beginning to write. Spend time reading the question slowly and carefully.
2. State the issues and answers to each question concisely. Lengthy answers are not necessary.
3. Do not repeat questions in your answers. Write neatly and legibly on only one side of each page.
4. Number your answers to correspond with the question, e.g., "I-B."
5. If you feel it necessary to assume additional facts in any of the questions, give the facts that must be added and state why.
6. Do not write in the margin of the book.
7. All major questions are equally weighted unless otherwise indicated. Subparts are approximately equal but may be weighted slightly differently according to the number of issues involved in that subpart.
8. Write your personal identification number and the name and section number of the course on which you are being examined on the cover of each examination book.
9. If you use more than one book, indicate "Book One," "Book Two" and so forth on the cover of each book and write your PIN and the name and section number of the course on the cover of each examination book.
10. A GOOD ANSWER IS NOT NECESSARILY A LONG ANSWER.
Susie Smith, who at the time lived in Orange, Texas, and Johnny Jones, who at the time lived, and to this day still lives, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, decided to vacation together at the fishing resort of North Bay, Ontario. Susie came to Baton Rouge from Texas by Greyhound bus. The two then set out together for Canada in Johnny's pickup truck, which is equipped with a camper that fits onto the back of the truck. While riding together at night in Johnny's truck, Johnny fell asleep at the wheel along a lonely stretch of the Queen Elizabeth Highway between Windsor, Ontario, and Toronto, Ontario. The truck ran off the highway and slammed into a bridge piling, seriously injuring Susie and permanently rendering her paraplegic.
Upon return to the states following her four-month hospitalization in Canada, Susie immediately moved from Orange, Texas, to Los Angeles, California. The move is to enable her elderly mother, who lives in California, to help take care of her.
At the time of the accident, Johnny had a policy of liability insurance issued by Allstate, with personal injury limits of one million dollars. Assume that Ontario has a guest passenger statute which provides that a host driver shall not be liable for torts to his guest passenger unless the host is intoxicated. Assume further that neither Texas nor California nor Louisiana has such a statute. Johnny had not been drinking; he was perfectly sober at the time of the accident, albeit sleepy until awakened suddenly by the sound of metal crunching against concrete.
The Louisiana direct action statute may or may not even be applicable to this accident. If it is, be aware that the courts of Texas view the Louisiana direct action statute as procedural; the courts of California view the Louisiana direct action statute as substantive.
Susie comes to your office today. Advise her as to all jurisdictional issues. Discuss fully her jurisdictional options, considering the applicability if any of the Louisiana direct action statute and discussing any possible problems.
What substantive law will the court apply to adjudicate the case? Discuss fully the applicability of the Ontario guest passenger statute.
Hobart Broussard, a lawyer for Shell Oil Company for many years, was born and raised in Baton Rouge and worked for the company at its Baton Rouge offices from 1964 to 1991. In 1991, Shell promoted Mr. Broussard to vice president in charge of the company's French operations. Mr. and Mrs. Broussard immediately sold their Baton Rouge home. Those of their belongings that they chose not to ship to France they stored in their summer cabin on the Amite River near Baywood, Louisiana.
The Broussards and their three children moved to Paris, where they obtained legal residence for immigration purposes, purchased a lovely house in suburban Cergy-Pontoise, enrolled their children in school, obtained French driving licenses, acquired two Renaults (both registered in France), and paid yearly income taxes both to the French government and to the United States Government.
In December 1995, Mr. Broussard retired after long and excellent service with Shell, sold his home in Cergy-Pontoise, and moved back to Baton Rouge with his wife and two children (one of the three had attained majority while living in France and had married a Kenyan and moved to Nairobi).
A justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court retired recently, and a special election to fill the vacancy has just been called by the governor. Hobart Broussard has announced his candidacy for the office.
Louisiana Constitution, Article 4, section 24, requires that:
A judge of the supreme court . . . shall have been admitted to the practice of law in this state for at least five years prior to his election, and shall have been domiciled in the respective district, circuit, or parish for the two years preceding election. |